Run time test workload customer profiling baselines visualization

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present invention include a method, system and computer program product. The method includes obtaining, by a processor, customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer, and obtaining, by the processor, test data relating to a test of a software system. The method also includes comparing, by the processor, the obtained customer data with the obtained test data to determine one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data, and displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data. The method further includes wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the testing of software, and more specifically, to a method, system and computer program product that implement aspects of workload and operational profiling, thereby resulting in improvements in the testing of customer software.

In the field of software testing, as in many other technical fields, improvements are constantly being sought, primarily for cost and accuracy reasons. A fundamental goal of software testing in theory is to identify all of the problems in a customer's software program before the program is released for use by the customer. However, in reality this is far from the case as typically a software program is released to the customer having some number of problems that were unidentified during the software development and testing process.

A relatively more proactive approach to improving software testing is sought that employs traditional methods of understanding characteristics of clients' environments, augmented with a process of data mining empirical systems data. Such client environment and workload profiling analysis may result in software test improvements based on characteristics comparisons between the client and the test environments.

SUMMARY

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a computer-implemented method includes obtaining, by a processor, customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer, and obtaining, by the processor, test data relating to a test of a software system. The method also includes comparing, by the processor, the obtained customer data with the obtained test data to determine one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data, and displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data. The method further includes wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a system includes a processor in communication with one or more types of memory, the processor configured to obtain customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer, and to obtain customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer. The processor is also configured to obtain test data relating to a test of a software system, and to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data. Further, wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product includes a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method that includes obtaining, by a processor, customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer, and obtaining, by the processor, test data relating to a test of a software system. The method also includes comparing, by the processor, the obtained customer data with the obtained test data to determine one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data, and displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data. The method further includes wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the invention with the advantages and the features, refer to the description and to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cloud computing environment according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts abstraction model layers according to one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a processing system for practice of the teachings herein;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for analytically comparing customer data with test data in real time during normal test runs in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a screen display that displays various determined statistical measures using various colors and other visual indicators in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a visual display diagram that demonstrates a visual detection method for real-time discovery of test workload characteristics alignment with members of a corresponding set of customer production workload environments across a set of statistical measures, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known or later developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with the service's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumer generally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or more cloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C, and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shown in FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes 10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should be understood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shown in FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and software components. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62; servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks and networking components 66. In some embodiments, software components include network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers 71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtual clients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions described below. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82 provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level management 84 provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtual classroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94; transaction processing 95; and a method 96 for analytically comparing customer data with test data in real time during normal test runs in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a processing system 100 for implementing the teachings herein according to one or more embodiments. The system 100 has one or more central processing units (processors) 101 a, 101 b, 101 c, etc. (collectively or generically referred to as processor(s) 101). In one embodiment, each processor 101 may include a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor. Processors 101 are coupled to system memory 114 and various other components via a system bus 113. Read only memory (ROM) 102 is coupled to the system bus 113 and may include a basic input/output system (BIOS), which controls certain basic functions of system 100.

FIG. 3 further depicts an input/output (I/O) adapter 107 and a network adapter 106 coupled to the system bus 113. I/O adapter 107 may be a small computer system interface (SCSI) adapter that communicates with a hard disk 103 and/or tape storage drive 105 or any other similar component. I/O adapter 107, hard disk 103, and tape storage device 105 are collectively referred to herein as mass storage 104. Operating system 120 for execution on the processing system 100 may be stored in mass storage 104. A network adapter 106 interconnects bus 113 with an outside network 116 enabling data processing system 100 to communicate with other such systems. A screen (e.g., a display monitor) 115 is connected to system bus 113 by display adaptor 112, which may include a graphics adapter to improve the performance of graphics intensive applications and a video controller. In one embodiment, adapters 107, 106, and 112 may be connected to one or more I/O busses that are connected to system bus 113 via an intermediate bus bridge (not shown). Suitable I/O buses for connecting peripheral devices such as hard disk controllers, network adapters, and graphics adapters typically include common protocols, such as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI). Additional input/output devices are shown as connected to system bus 113 via user interface adapter 108 and display adapter 112. A keyboard 109, mouse 110, and speaker 111 all interconnected to bus 113 via user interface adapter 108, which may include, for example, a Super I/O chip integrating multiple device adapters into a single integrated circuit.

In exemplary embodiments, the processing system 100 includes a graphics processing unit 130. Graphics processing unit 130 is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display. In general, graphics processing unit 130 is very efficient at manipulating computer graphics and image processing, and has a highly parallel structure that makes it more effective than general-purpose CPUs for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel.

Thus, as configured in FIG. 3, the system 100 includes processing capability in the form of processors 101, storage capability including system memory 114 and mass storage 104, input means such as keyboard 109 and mouse 110, and output capability including speaker 111 and display 115. In one embodiment, a portion of system memory 114 and mass storage 104 collectively store an operating system to coordinate the functions of the various components shown in FIG. 3.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, methods, systems, and computer program products are disclosed for analytically comparing customer data with test data in real time during normal test runs.

In typical software test environments, test workload parameters are sometimes non-productive, employing non customer like settings that do not find the problems most likely to be discovered in customer production computing environments. As a result, test resources and time are wasted by yielding test results that are non-optimized. Also, test time is not recovered in real time since knowledge of the test activity characteristics deficiency is either only known via post processing analysis or not at all.

One or more embodiments of the present invention utilize a body of available customer data to provide an analytical comparison of archived baseline customer data and live test system data on a one to one basis or one to rotating basis. The customer data may be organized, for example, by industry, to provide data such as that relating to rotating industry, maximum customer, any customer, lowest customer, maximum of a particular industry, any industry, lowest of an industry, etc. The comparison analysis may be conducted in real time during normal test runs, allowing for relatively quick discovery and mitigation of test deficiencies, thereby resulting in more productive tests.

The embodiments disclosed may include methods, systems and computer program products for real time detection and discovery of test workload characteristics alignment or comparison with each or all members of a set of customer production workload environments across a set of statistical measures with run time visualization of customer baselines data versus live test system data. This is done to identify and mitigate poor test characteristics in real time.

Existing workload profiling involves post processing of data from customer and test systems. Instead, one or more embodiments of the present invention essentially move the profiling process from post processing to real time processing during the test execution. In test, there is a relatively large body of customer workload data that is used to perform post process analytics to determine any “holes” in testing. Experience has shown that testers may sometimes make workload changes that are not reviewed from a profiling perspective. When this occurs, it is easy to run with undesirable workload characteristics for long periods of time. By moving the process to test workload run time in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, undesirable changes or conditions can be mitigated immediately.

Thus, exemplary embodiments provide for real time system activities feedback while simultaneously providing customer profiled activities feedback. This is a relatively agile approach to customer/workload profiling.

Using the body of available customer data, a comparison of customer and live test system data may be carried out so that an agile profiling exercise can be conducted during normal test runs. Also, web interface charts and tables may be used for displays that reflect the profiling data.

One or more embodiments of the present invention utilize existing customer data compared or contrasted with the live collection of test data, and then storing the data which results from the comparison operation in a database (e.g., DB2) or in some other type of memory. The resulting data may be used in a web application or in some other type of visual data display application to visually represent the levels of load and stress and ratios of activity for sets of related data points.

Typically, load is created by the activity of one or more workloads as the driver of the system conditions of relatively high processor, I/O, Communications, Graphics, etc. (i.e., system resource) utilization. Stress is the resulting system resource constraints that cause system component interactions and timings to change where overall performance can become limited and begin to degrade. A highly stressed system is more likely to encounter problems as compared to a system with relatively low stress levels. A relatively large difference in mainframe computing systems versus smaller computing systems is that mainframes are capable of consistently running at extremely high utilization rates—close to 100%. For this reason load and stress of the system is an important aspect of mainframe testing. An example of load and stress example is that if one scales up a system with more and faster processors and I/O devices and more memory (i.e., reduces stress on the system), then the system can handle a relatively greater load (i.e., higher workload activity levels).

The sets of related data points may be referred to as the analysis points. Analysis points each contain multiple data points that are related to one another. On the display page of the web application, the data may be fed into line, pie, and other charts/visualizations that depict the test system levels contrasted with data that rotates chart updates for different customers. This way a user of the method 200 can better see the customer data as compared with the test data.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrates a method 200 according to one or more embodiments of the present invention for analytically comparing customer data with test data in real time during normal test runs. In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the functional features of the method 200 of FIG. 4 may be embodied in software that is executed by computing or processing components within the cloud computing environment 50 of FIG. 1, or in the processing system 100 of FIG. 3, or in some other type of computing or processing environment.

In the method 200 after a starting operation in a block 204, an operation is performed in a block 208 where the available or existing customer data is obtained, loaded and/or refreshed. The customer data 208 may comprise data relating to customer production workload environments or baseline data, and the data may be archived or stored data. This is followed by a block 212 in which system test workload data is obtained, gathered or collected for the test run in the method 200.

A comparison or alignment operation is performed in a block 216 in which the customer data is compared, aligned and/or contrasted with the test data in real time as the method 200 executes. This way, various statistical measures between the customer data and the test data may be generated, such as, for example and without limitation, ratios, percentages, differences, etc.

An operation may then be performed in a block 220 in which the various statistical measures from the operation in the block 216 are computed or determined using various colors to indicate these statistical measures in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

An operation is performed in a block 224 in which various line charts, pie charts, and donut charts are generated from the result of the operations in the block 216. These various types of data charts may be displayed in the diagram 310 of FIG. 3, as described in more detail hereinafter.

An operation in a block 228 is then performed in which it is determined whether to display pie chart data and/or donut chart data, or data related to the percent error scores, or data relating to various types of statistics between the customer data and the test data. If it determined to display donut and pie charts, an operation is performed in a block 232 in which such charts are displayed in FIG. 5.

Referring also to FIG. 5, there illustrated is a screen display 300 having a visual diagram 310 depicted thereon. The diagram 310 displays various determined statistical measures using various colors and other visual indicators (e.g., donut and pie charts, graphs of analysis point data, etc.) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention. Specifically, in a region 340 of the diagram 310 of FIG. 5 is shown an outer donut chart of test data surrounding and an inner pie chart of customer baseline data. In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present invention, these donut and pie chart combinations show the ratios and percentages of the test and customer data, while allowing the user to make a relatively easy visual comparison of both types of data. In an actual screen display, these donut and pie charts are depicted in various colors to show the “Profiles Ratios” of the region 340. However, in FIG. 5 the various colors are indicated therein by various different types of black and white stiplings.

The method may then branch to an operation in a block 236 in which it is determined whether to run another iteration of the method 200; that is, to run another test interval. If not, the method ends in the block 240. If so, the method 200 branches back to the block 212 in which the operation of gathering test data is performed.

Instead, if it is determined in the block 228 to display baseline data, an operation is performed in a block 244 in which such baseline data is displayed in FIG. 5. The baseline data may be displayed in a region 330 within the diagram 310 on the display. The baseline data may be illustrated, for example, as line graphs depicting the varying value of one or more data points over time. In an actual screen display, these line graphs may be in color, with the different colors indicating the different data points. The analysis points may relate to both test data and customer data.

The method may then branch to an operation in a block 236 in which it is determined whether to run another iteration of the method 200 in another test interval. If not, the method ends in the block. If so, the method 200 branches back to the block 212 in which the operation of gathering test data is performed.

Instead, if it is determined in the block 228 to display statistical data on the diagram 310 of FIG. 5, an operation is performed in a block 248 in which such statistical data is displayed in FIG. 5. For example the statistical data may be displayed in the box labeled “Percent Error View” in the diagram 310 of FIG. 5. In that box, the data in the column labeled “% Error” may also be in different colors in an actual display 300, to help the user quickly make a determination of the amount of percent error within or between the customer and the test data.

The method may then branch to an operation in a block 236 in which it is determined whether to run another iteration of the method 200 in another test interval. If not, the method ends in the block. If so, the method 200 branches back to the block 212 in which the operation of gathering test data is performed.

In the display visualization diagram 310 of FIG. 5, the scoring or statistical measures computed or determined in the operation in the block 220 that lend themselves to scoring by different colors are displayed, for example, in a box 316 on the right hand side of FIG. 5. In this box 316, the percentage error between the experimental and accepted data (or between the customer baseline data and the internal test data) as computed in the operations in the block 216 may be shown in an actual display in color by using a relatively large number of different colors, as indicated by the corresponding various different types of stiplings shown in the column labeled “% Error” in FIG. 5 which represent the relatively large numbers of different colors that one would see if the screen display of FIG. 5 were in color.

It should be understood that the different types of graphs, charts, etc. shown in the diagram 310 of the display 300 of FIG. 5 are purely exemplary. Other types of display types may be utilized in accordance with embodiments of the present invention to provide the user with a relatively quick and easy way to see the customer data, the test data, and any operations conducted on these two types of data (e.g., comparisons, alignments, additions, subtractions, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 6, there illustrated is a visual diagram 400, such as one displayed on a display screen of a computer or similar type of display device within a computing environment in which one or more embodiments of the present invention reside. The diagram 400 demonstrates a visual detection or examination method for real-time discovery of test workload characteristics comparison, alignment or contrasting with each or all members of a corresponding set of customer production workload environments across a set of statistical measures such as minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation, etc. The diagram 400 demonstrates post processing data analysis of before and after workload parameter changes intended to achieve a level of relative convergence of test to customer results for a subset of overall data points.

The examination method includes treating the customer data as the “actual data” and the test data as the “experimental data.” Treating the data in this way allows calculation of the experimental error percentage using the standard and accepted formula where % error=(accepted−experimental/accepted)*100. The example uses bar charts 404, 408 to visualize the test and customer data, at one of multiple possible statistical measures, showing the functional intersection and associated magnitude comparison for each data series. This may also be shown using line, stacked bar, and other chart or graph types. Similar, but relatively better visualization can be achieved using scoring by color in conjunction with bar, line, stacked bar, and other chart types as is done, for example, with respect to FIG. 5, as described hereinabove. Ratios and percentages are calculated along with the percent error. A donut chart 420, 424 of test data and an inner pie chart 420, 424 of customer data shows the ratios and percentages therebetween while also allowing for a visual comparison of such ratios and percentages.

The diagram 400 of FIG. 6 shows that after certain test workload parameters (e.g., Sequential Access Requests) were changed, the overall test activity ratio went from 5:9 (before) for test versus customer to 5:3 (after). The test after workload parameter changes had more overall activity with respect to the customer data, while the test before workload parameter changes had about half as much activity as the customer. For each data point in the example the ratios, percentages, and percent error all clearly showed relatively better test to customer convergence. Each percentage for test was much closer to the customer as seen visually in the “after” donut and pie charts 424 versus the “before” donut and pie charts 420 of FIG. 6. The percent differences were relatively much better considering that test should maintain similar ratios and percentages, but also run with greater overall activity to stay ahead of future customer activity increases.

Also, analysis points are sets of data points grouped by the analysis point group, which is component centric. There are several possible system components with data available that can be formed into such a group. The related subset of data points, such as in the diagram 400 of FIG. 6, represents the analysis point. In the example, there are four data points in the analysis point and the component's analysis point group. This analysis point may be one of many for the given component.

In the diagram 400 of FIG. 6, each data point can be examined where the customer data has a value and the test data has a value. As mentioned above, examination includes treating the customer data as the “actual data” and the test data the “experimental value.” Treating the data in this way allows us to calculate an experimental error percentage using the formula where % error=(accepted−experimental/accepted)*100. By simple calculation, one can display the ratios, percentages, and percent error for a given statistical measure of the data.

The diagram 400 of FIG. 6 also shows how to manually create a visualization of data while the apparatus demonstrates the mechanism which provides this feature as part of a test tool with other additional features.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The following definitions and abbreviations are to be used for the interpretation of the claims and the specification. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” “having,” “contains” or “containing,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a composition, a mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such composition, mixture, process, method, article, or apparatus.

As used herein, the articles “a” and “an” preceding an element or component are intended to be nonrestrictive regarding the number of instances (i.e., occurrences) of the element or component. Therefore, “a” or “an” should be read to include one or at least one, and the singular word form of the element or component also includes the plural unless the number is obviously meant to be singular.

As used herein, the terms “invention” or “present invention” are non-limiting terms and not intended to refer to any single aspect of the particular invention but encompass all possible aspects as described in the specification and the claims.

As used herein, the term “about” modifying the quantity of an ingredient, component, or reactant of the invention employed refers to variation in the numerical quantity that can occur, for example, through typical measuring and liquid handling procedures used for making concentrates or solutions. Furthermore, variation can occur from inadvertent error in measuring procedures, differences in the manufacture, source, or purity of the ingredients employed to make the compositions or carry out the methods, and the like. In one aspect, the term “about” means within 10% of the reported numerical value. In another aspect, the term “about” means within 5% of the reported numerical value. Yet, in another aspect, the term “about” means within 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1% of the reported numerical value.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein. 

1.-7. (canceled)
 8. A system comprising: a processor in communication with one or more types of memory, the processor configured to: obtain customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer; obtain test data relating to a test of a software system; compare the obtained customer data with the obtained test data to determine one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data; and display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data, wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data is selected from the group consisting of ratios, percentages and differences.
 10. The system of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises the processor configured to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data using a plurality of different colors.
 11. The system of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises the processor configured to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data using groups of analysis points of data.
 12. The system of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to display the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises the processor configured to display a first set of data relating to a system parameter with a test system workload parameter at a first value and to display a second set of data relating to a system parameter with the test system workload parameter at a second value.
 13. The system of claim 8 wherein the processor configured to display a first set of data relating to a system parameter with a test system workload parameter at a first value and to display a second set of data relating to a system parameter with the test system workload parameter at a second value comprises the processor configured to display a determined one or more statistical measures between the first set of data relating to a system parameter with a test system workload parameter at the first value and to display the second set of data relating to a system parameter with the test system workload parameter at the second value.
 14. The system of claim 8 wherein the processor is configured to execute its functions in real time.
 15. A computer program product comprising: a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising: obtaining, by a processor, customer data relating to a software workload environment of a customer; obtaining, by the processor, test data relating to a test of a software system; comparing, by the processor, the obtained customer data with the obtained test data to determine one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data; and displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data, wherein the customer data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points, and wherein the test data contains multiple data points arranged in groups of analysis points.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data to the obtained test data is selected from the group consisting of ratios, percentages and differences.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data using a plurality of different colors.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data using groups of analysis points of data.
 19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein displaying, by the processor, the determined one or more statistical measures between the obtained customer data and the obtained test data comprises displaying, by the processor, a first set of data relating to a system parameter with a test system workload parameter at a first value and displaying, by the processor, a second set of data relating to a system parameter with the test system workload parameter at a second value.
 20. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the method is run in real time by the processing circuit. 